Author Question: When an alarm is activated on a ventilator, the respiratory therapist's first priority is to ... (Read 89 times)

tsand2 · **on:** Jul 16, 2018

When an alarm is activated on a ventilator, the respiratory therapist's first priority is to ______________.

a. assess the patient's level of consciousness
b. ensure adequate ventilation and oxygena-tion
c. assess lung compliance and airway re-sistance
d. ensure that bilateral and equal breath sounds are present

Question 2

The pressure-time scalar of a patient with COPD who is receiving PSV shows positive deflection toward the end of inspiration. The most appropriate way to alleviate this is to do which of the following?

a. Increase the PSV level.
b. Decrease the PSV level.
c. Increase the flow cycle percentage.
d. Decrease the flow cycle percentage.

isabelt_18 · **Reply #1 on:** Jul 16, 2018

Answer to Question 1

ANS: B
Patient safety is the foremost obligation of the respiratory therapist. Whenever an alarm activates on a ventilator, the respiratory therapist first should make sure the patient is adequately ventilated and oxygenated. To do this, the respiratory therapist can assess the patient's level of conscious-ness, use of accessory muscles, and chest wall movements; determine whether bilateral breath sounds are present; and evaluate the heart rate and SpO2.

Answer to Question 2

ANS: C
This patient has cycle asynchrony. The positive deflection at the end of inspiration is caused by active exhalation. A patient with COPD needs a short inspiratory time and a long expiratory time. If the patient shows active exhalation before the end of inspiration, inspiration is too long. In PSV, inspiration ends when the flow cycle percent setting is reached. Increasing the flow cy-cle percentage will cause the ventilator to end inspiration earlier, thus allowing a longer time for expiration.